In a significant shift within the AI industry, John Schulman, one of the co-founder of OpenAI, has departed to join rival AI startup Anthropic backed by Amazon. This news marks a pivotal moment for OpenAI as it navigates changes in its leadership team.
Adding to the upheaval, OpenAI president and co-founder Greg Brockman announced he is taking an extended leave through the end of the year. Brockman, who has been with OpenAI for nine years, cited the need to “relax and recharge” as the reason for his temporary departure. The company confirmed his leave, emphasizing its support for his decision.
Additionally, Peter Deng, a product manager who joined OpenAI last year after tenures at Meta, Uber, and Airtable, has also left the company. The news of Brockman’s and Deng’s departures was initially reported by The Information.
In a statement, OpenAI expressed gratitude for Schulman’s contributions: “We’re grateful for John’s contributions as a founding team member at OpenAI and his dedicated efforts in advancing alignment research. His passion and hard work have established a strong foundation that will inspire and support future innovations at OpenAI and the broader field.”
Schulman, who announced his decision on X, explained his move was driven by a desire to deepen his focus on AI alignment—the science of ensuring AI behaves as intended—and engage in more hands-on technical work. “I’ve decided to pursue this goal at Anthropic, where I believe I can gain new perspectives and do research alongside people deeply engaged with the topics I’m most interested in,” Schulman stated. He expressed confidence that OpenAI would continue to thrive without him.
Schulman’s journey with OpenAI began shortly after he completed a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer sciences at UC Berkeley. He played a crucial role in the development of the AI-powered chatbot platform ChatGPT, leading OpenAI’s reinforcement training organization to fine-tune generative AI models to follow human instructions.
Following the departure of AI safety researcher Jan Leike, who also joined Anthropic, Schulman became the head of OpenAI’s alignment science efforts. He was also a member of OpenAI’s newly formed safety committee. It remains unclear who will take over Schulman’s responsibilities in these roles.
Despite the controversies surrounding OpenAI, particularly concerning the company’s approach to AI safety research, Schulman clarified that his departure was not due to a lack of support from the company. “Company leaders have been very committed to investment in [alignment research],” Schulman said. “My decision is a personal one, based on how I want to focus my efforts in the next phase of my career.”
With Schulman’s exit, only three of OpenAI’s 11 original founders remain: CEO Sam Altman, Brockman, and Wojciech Zaremba, lead of language and code generation.
In a heartfelt post on X, Altman thanked Schulman for his contributions: “Thank you for everything you’ve done for OpenAI! You are a brilliant researcher, a deep thinker about product and society, and mostly, you are a great friend to all of us. We will miss you tremendously and make you proud of this place.”
The leadership changes at OpenAI come at a critical juncture for the company, as it continues to navigate the complexities of AI development and safety.
